


Kylo Ren vs. Darth Vader: The Redemption Arc

by StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese



Series: Redemption Arc Analyses [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Darth Vader Redemption, Kylo Ren Redemption, No beta we die like mne, Not a fic, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24830050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese/pseuds/StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese
Summary: An analysis of Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, and why their redemption arcs recieved such different receptions in a franchise that is defined by the idea of redemption.
Series: Redemption Arc Analyses [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796050
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	Kylo Ren vs. Darth Vader: The Redemption Arc

(Tl;dr at bottom.)

Ah, yes. The redemption arc. In my opinion, it’s one of the best tropes in fiction… if you can do it right, that is. _Star Wars_ is a franchise defined by the redemption arc. The most obvious arc is found in the first six movies, centered around Darth Vader’s fall from, and subsequent return to, the light side of the Force, but there are other, smaller redemption arcs scattered throughout the franchise. Han Solo goes from a selfish smuggler to rebel hero, Kanan Jarrus goes from womanizing jerk to Jedi Knight, Finn is a coward and a stormtrooper who becomes a hero, and, on a more meta level, Ahsoka Tano, originally on par with Jar Jar Binks for “worst-ever _Star Wars_ character” eventually became one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. A strong theme of the franchise is that anyone can become a better version of themselves. But Darth Vader’s arc trumps them all, not in the least because he is more or less the main character of the _Star Wars_ universe, and one of the most famous movie villains of all time.

Here’s why I think his arc works. 

Everybody knows the prequels were… not good, and I say that as somebody who once had a crush on Ewan McGregor. When I first saw them, I thought they were fine, but certainly not at the same level as, say, _The Empire Strikes Back_. Looking back on them, though, I can appreciate them for what they were trying to add to Anakin’s character and story. Right when the audience meets Anakin in _The Phantom Menace_ , it is quickly established that 1) he is strong with the Force, and 2) he loves his mother. In fact, those are pretty much his only two traits throughout the entire movie. _Attack of the Clones_ was generous and gave us a third one, i.e. whiny (“I don’t like sand.” being perhaps the most egregious example, but the way he tries to woo Padmé throughout pretty much the entire middle act is… ugh).

But I’m not here to complain about bad scripts. In _Attack of the Clones_ , after his mother dies, Anakin goes on a murderous rampage, and later on tells Padmé that he is going to find a way to prevent those that he loves from dying. This is pretty much the key to his entire character: Anakin will do literally anything for those that he loves.

 _So, what about the redemption arc?_ you might be asking. _You just said you thought his arc worked, why are you complaining about his character and rehashing the obvious? And what about Kylo Ren?_

I’m getting there.

Here’s why Anakin Skywalker’s redemption arc works: it is established that he loves his family. However, in the twenty-year gap between Padmé’s death and _The Empire Strikes Back_ , he is totally alone– and that’s what made him such a great– and terrifying– villain. And his redemption arc ultimately works because it draws back on those traits that made him fall to the dark side in the first place– he would do anything for his family.

In addition to his redemption aligning with his values and personality, Vader’s redemption works because he isn’t totally redeemed. Vader dies as his life’s work crumbles around him. He is in pain and struggling to breathe. He has only just reconnected with his son after years of fighting him. The only interaction he gets with his daughter was in _A New Hope_ , when he destroyed her entire planet. Sure, he saved the hero in the end, but it is made clear that that doesn’t really make up for what he did. Luke has his funeral alone, because he knows everybody else would celebrate Vader’s death, not mourn it. In Disney’s canon, Leia and Han don’t name their kid after the man who tortured them physically and mentally for years (Leia in ANH, Han in ESB), which, incidentally, is one of my biggest issues with Snape’s redemption in _Harry Potter_. His legacy is dead, and so is he. 

Now, onto Kylo Ren.

Kylo Ren is at a bit of a disadvantage compared to Vader when it comes to the redemption arc. Does he pull it off? 

Well, in my opinion, no. Sorry, Kylo stans.

Unlike Darth Vader, Kylo Ren isn’t that intimidating, has no history to make the audience care about him, and has very little defining traits beyond “angry”. (True, Vader also had little in the way of defining characteristics, but he was meant to be an ice-cold villain for the audience to hate, whereas Kylo Ren bounced back and forth between “toddler” and “Darth Vader wannabe”).

In the original movie, Vader is very quickly established as a force (pun not intended) to be reckoned with. He is supposed to be terrifying, and the audience understands that. 

Kylo Ren… doesn’t really do that. No offense to Adam Driver, who did his best with what he was given, but I was not too intimidated by him, and that was made worse by the characters also not seeming to be all that afraid of him. He is belittled by his peers, emotional to the point of comedy, beaten by the heroes over and over, and there is no reason for the audience to connect with him.

And after two movies where the audience is led to believe that he is the bad guy, Darth Vader 2.0, the ice-cold villain that Vader once was, suddenly, he’s… good. And this is after he killed Han Solo, kidnapped Rey, indirectly killed both Luke and Leia, joined the Emperor… why are we supposed to be rooting for this guy, again?

I’m not trying to hate on Kylo Ren. I think that he had a good concept– the son of Leia and Han going over to the Dark Side, struggling with the pull towards the Light, and eventually returning and helping his former enemies à la Zuko (ATLA) would have been cool to see on the big screen. As you might have gathered by this point, I’m a sucker for well-done redemption arcs. But just like a LOT of things in the _Star Wars_ franchise, it was a good idea that was executed poorly.

(Side note- why do we keep expecting _Star Wars_ movies to be good? You’d think that after the godawful cartoon in 2008 AT THE LATEST we’d have learned our lesson about high hopes).

Kylo Ren has none of the struggle that Vader does. One of the most important parts of the redemption arc is that it’s supposed to be hard. Zuko from _Avatar: the Last Airbender_ had to work to earn the heroes’ trust, and he screwed up over and over before coming into his own as a hero. Catra from the _She-Ra_ reboot did the same (albeit to a lesser degree. Alas, her redemption was not as good as Zuko’s). Jamie Lannister from _Game of Thrones_ became selfless, went behind his sister’s back to go to Winterfell and offer whatever help he possibly could to fight the White Walkers, even knowing that one man wouldn’t make much of a difference (and then his arc then fell flat on its face, but I digress).

Kylo… just decided to help? He just decided he didn’t want to be Supreme Leader anymore, even after he spent two movies hungering after that exact position? From what I understood of his character, he wanted power at any cost. Why give that up? I just don’t see how that aligns with his development at all. Maybe I’m missing something, but I thought the ending of his arc seemed out of place to me.

Finally, Kylo dies happy, after kissing Rey (and dear God, I am not touching that mess with a ten-foot pole. I’d rather watch the 2008 cartoon and the 1978 special back-to-back on a loop while swimming with sharks than try to take a stance on Reylo). There is no mention of his previous wrongdoings, nothing to suggest that he isn’t totally redeemed, just… that’s it. He’s done, and nobody in-universe (except for Rey, and again, not touching Reylo) seems to care. He was the villain, right? Shouldn’t people be taking note of this? I know the movie came out several months ago, but apparently I’m bored enough to analyze and criticize media that is aimed at children and families.

It’s like I said at the beginning– _Star Wars_ is defined by the redemption arc. But it’s hard to get it right. I personally think that Darth Vader’s arc was handled well, albeit a little clumsily, and Kylo Ren’s arc was handled… less well. 

Tl;dr: Darth Vader’s redemption arc, while not perfect, was handled in a way that aligned with the character’s wants and desires, while Kylo Ren’s felt more out of place and… messy, for lack of a better term. In the end, it was a matter of ‘good idea, bad execution’.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like all I did was state the obvious in this, whoops.  
> Did I get stuff right? Did I get stuff totally and completely wrong? Did I miss something? What did you think?  
> If anyone has any constructive criticism, ideas, etc., I'd love to hear it! :)


End file.
